I’m a manager without enough work to do because my team handles everything

by Alison Green on March 20, 2025

A reader writes:

I work at a fairly large international company with several offices and remote workers all over the country. I manage a team of three graphic designers. My position and team are all new; previously all design work was outsourced. I was hired to put together a team and bring design in-house. I did all of the work in the beginning, and added additional designers one at a time. I am exempt, and my team are all non-exempt.

Now that the team is running well, I’m finding myself without much to do. I meet with my boss biweekly to relay the status of our projects, new clients, vendor issues, etc. I have met all of his objectives, and he tells me I’m doing a great job.

I do typical manager things like approve payroll and conduct employee evaluations, answer team member questions and offer assistance when needed, and review their work and offer feedback. They are all entry-level, so in the beginning I did a lot of training with them but now it’s only required if I introduce something new. This leaves me with a lot of extra time most weeks. I fill it with tutorials, reading management materials, and taking classes, but I am stressed about it because I know I wasn’t hired to do these things as my primary responsibility. I know that output is more important than hours worked, but I feel like the expectations are different for managers. My boss doesn’t assign my team’s work, and our workload depends on how many projects are coming in. I review the incoming requests and assign them to a designer, but I can’t create new projects that haven’t been requested by anyone. I have even stretched the definition of “graphic design” to get a few new projects sent our way.

Is this common among managers? Or should I be able to figure out work to do without someone telling me? I could do more of my team’s work assignments, but I am afraid that could leave them without 40 hours of work, so I usually fill their plates first and just pitch in when things are really busy. My team is not likely to get any bigger, so I don’t anticipate the admin duties associated with being a manager to increase much.

I would like to add that I am 60, female, and single, so leaving the position or company is not an option for me. I have been in the manager position for a little over a year, and with the company for three years.

I’m of the school of thought that if your boss is happy and you’re helming a well-run, productive team that’s meeting their goals, you’re doing a good job as a manager.

Of course, it’s important to define “well-run, productive team.” I’d define that as a team where:
– when work is completed, it generally looks like you wanted it to (indicating some of combination of having trained people well, getting aligned on expectations at the start and otherwise setting clear expectations, and checking in appropriately as work progresses)
– you know where work stands and would catch it early if something were significantly off-track
– if your team is asked what their their goals and priorities are, their answers would line up with your answer
– people feel comfortable giving input, suggesting ideas, and taking initiative, and feel they have a reasonable amount of room to figure out the best way to achieve a project’s goals (as opposed to you dictating every step in the process)
– people know where they’re doing well and where they should work on improving, because you talk about it explicitly and give regular feedback
– your employees seem reasonably enthusiastic about their work, put the team’s success ahead of personal agendas (most of the time), generally have good will toward one another and minimal drama, and feel they’re treated fairly and with respect
– you retain your strongest performers for a good solid period of time
– you address problems quickly, including removing people from the team if coaching and opportunities to improve don’t solve the problem, and you don’t have any concerns about team members that you haven’t talked with them about
– when you’re on vacation, you’re confident that work is moving forward well in your absence, without you constantly checking in

If you look at that list and spot things you don’t have in place, those are good places to focus some energy.

If you’ve got all that checked off, is there room to do more strategic thinking and planning — maybe longer-term goals that aren’t just about processing projects as they come in?

I know you said you don’t want to take more of your team’s assignments in case it leaves them without enough work, but it might be interesting to talk to them about whether they could use more breathing room, and whether there are things they’d like to work on if they ever had the time. Maybe the answer to both of those will be no, but those could be interesting conversations.

You can also think about investing time in developing your staff: what are their goals professionally? Are there skills they want to build, and ways for you to work on building those with them? Particularly since these are entry-level employees, there’s likely a lot of room to go down that path if you and they want to.

If none of the above changes things … well, congratulations, your boss is happy and you’ve built and lead a well-run, productive team that’s meeting its goals.

One caveat to all this: It’s worth making sure that your skills are staying up-to-date and you have accomplishments to put on your resume. I know you said you don’t plan to job-search, but that’s not always fully in your control, and you don’t want to find yourself job-searching from a weak position if you ever need to. I have no particular reason to worry that would be the case for you — building and leading a well-functioning team that meets ambitious goals is a marketable skill — but it’s something to keep in the back of your head too.

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{ 62 comments }

{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }

  1. Grumpus*

    Assign them time regularly to work on their professional portfolios. It’s an essential for designers where I live (and presumably in the US as well). You could give them a half-day every week to work on their portfolios and then do a team showcase/learning from each other session every month. Any additional work leftover: pick it up yourself to keep your own skills sharp.

    Reply ↓
    1. learnedthehardway*

      This is a very good idea – both for the designers and also for the OP.

      Managers should have some hands-on work to do – it’s important for their own technical skills and also so they can appreciate the challenges in the work, see trends in the business / industry, etc.

      Also, one of the things I have seen (at least in my field) is that managers who continue to do projects personally show their value to the company in a way that other people understand better than if they were doing the administrative/management stuff only. They also build their relationships with other stakeholders (because they are contributing to specific projects).

      This is a good insurance policy against being viewed merely as “overhead”, should it be decided that staffing cuts need to be made, and it also ensures that if cuts are made, that the manager can still do the hands-on work. Nobody likes the idea of layoffs, but middle management is often easier to lay off than skilled SMEs doing the actual work, particularly if the middle manager is seen as merely administrative. I’ve seen this in recruitment before, and I expect it holds true for other functions, as well.

      Reply ↓
    3. Grumpy Elder Millennial*

      This is a great idea.

      And echoing what Alison said about checking in on their workload and making sure they have some time to work on developing the skills they’re most interested in.

      Reply ↓
    4. MassMatt*

      Great idea, I was going to add “improving/adding to your team members’ skills/professional development” to Alison’s list, but this suggestion is more specifically useful for this field.

      If your people are entry level and are able to work well independently once you show them the basics of new things, then congratulations, you made great hires and trained them well!

      But entry level people (even stellar ones) typically have no shortage of things to learn/improve on, I would put some time int making sure your people are moving to whatever goals they have in 2-5 years–maybe that kind of goal-setting is a good place to start.

      Reply ↓
    5. BayesianByDefault*

      I was going to suggest this as well! I run a team of statistical consultants and this is what I do when things are a little quiet. In my case I’ll let them pursue professional development things that they’ve already expressed interest in – workshops, prepping for a conference, writing a blog post, etc etc. I’ll take over a small to medium sized project where I can safely be on the critical path, and give everyone else a little breathing room. They appreciate it, I keep my technical skills up, and I don’t feel like dead weight (you’re NOT, but I totally get that antsy feeling!)

      Reply ↓
  2. Usually-an-AAM-lurker*

    Adding to what Alison said about longer-term strategic thinking: are there ways your team could add more value? Are you and your team on top of upcoming trends in your industry (tools, design standards, etc.)? Are there things that your competitors in the industry are doing that you and your team are not? Are there things you can learn from that? Are there ways your team could be more efficient? In a situation where you’ve built a great team and they are on top of the work, as a manager you have the luxury of spending time and energy thinking about what would make your team (and its contribution to the business) next-level.

    Reply ↓
    1. Yes, and*

      Yes to all of this. And, since your team is still fairly new within your org, spend some time networking with leads of other departments so they can better understand what your team makes available to them. This will help build your team’s recognition within your organization and help you stay on top of what is happening big picture in other departments as well, which is important for a leader.

      Reply ↓
      1. Venus*

        I was thinking of this part too. In time it is likely that they will have more work, especially if they are viewed as competent and helpful, so this is a problem that may solve itself now that they can more widely establish a reputation.

        Reply ↓
      2. Grumpy Elder Millennial*

        This is a really good idea. In big organizations, it’s so easy to not realize the various resources teams might be able to access. So how can you and your team show the rest of the organization the value you bring?

        Reply ↓
  3. Lisa*

    Congratulations, you are a manager whose team doesn’t require full-time energy on day-to-day management. That leaves you time to spend on strategy and long-term plans! Think about things like: how do you keep your team cross-trained so if one person is out or leaves it doesn’t leave a huge gap in your capabilities; where are things going for your department/business/industry in the next 5-10 years and how can your team prepare for that; what tools or processes could you try to make your team more effective and/or happier.

    Reply ↓
    1. RIP Pillowfort*

      This. One thing in management I wish I had more time for is strategic planning. There is so much I want to leverage but because I have the opposite issue to the OP, I can’t.

      Reply ↓
      1. umami*

        Right?! Same. I am in a fairly new role where strategy is literally in my job title, but I find myself playing whack-a-mole more than doing anything strategic at the moment!

        Reply ↓
  4. AB*

    Just enjoy it while it lasts! I’ve had times in my career like this and it’s amazing, and then I’ll get pulled into a really busy project or someone on the team leaves and their replacement has performance issues and I have to put someone on a PIP etc. If your team is firing on all cylinders and you don’t have much to do, you’re living the dream.

    Reply ↓
    1. Sloanicota*

      Yeah, my answer would be different if there are peaks and valleys in workload versus if it’s always like this. In my role, I don’t sweat days where I don’t do much because I know there will be a certain amount of weekend/evening work that happens, and when it happens I’ll be the one to do it. But if that never occurred, I wouldn’t want whole days at a time where I am doing very little. I’d say the manager should spread around some of that freetime by picking up some of the project work themselves so the staff get occasional off days too.

      Reply ↓
      1. Tio*

        Same. I’m in regulatory, and plenty of times you don’t need us to specifically do things, but you definitely need us around. Thankfully I’ve had a lot of fun doing strategy planning and long terms building here, but really, don’t forget about training either! Also, Try heading around your company and talking to people outside your department to find out THEIR long term plans – are there things going on you could get involved with, like they want to bring in a new product and you could suggest some artwork for it? Some internal campaigns/events that could use an art boost? Talk to people and you may be surprised what ideas you get!

        Reply ↓
    2. Cat Lady in the Mountains*

      Yeah, this! I’ve had cycles like this occasionally throughout my career, but then it cycles back to “tons of stuff that only the manager can do” for awhile. Part of management is making sure you have the time and brain-space to do the highest-value-add work when it’s needed – which may not be all the time.

      Another weird thing as I’ve risen in seniority is how much time I spend thinking/processing/mulling over stuff that has no concrete deliverables. Like, I spent the last three months with few work products to point to, but I was noodling on a possible directional shift for my team that I needed to make a case to the c-suite for. That “noodling” was pretty aimless at times; it’s looked like me thinking about possibilities while washing dishes or playing a game on my phone – but yesterday I was able to crank out a memo with my refined ideas in about three hours, and it’s almost certain to get approved in the next day or two. So while it looks and sometimes feels like I’ve been unproductive, it resulted in a work product that was pretty efficient and effective. I’ve come to accept that some time – sometimes a lot of time – for aimless thinking is essential for me to deliver really strong strategic, management-level work.

      Reply ↓
    3. Hell in a Handbasket*

      I’m someone who does not at all find this enjoyable. In addition to worries about job security, not having work to do makes the days drag! Presumably this manager needs to be available to her team, so it’s not like she can go off and spend the day shopping or whatever. Personally I find it to be torture to have to be sitting at my desk/in front of my computer trying to look busy when I don’t have enough to do.

      Reply ↓
  5. animaniactoo*

    In a position like this, I would spend a lot of time making sure that I am up on current trends, techniques, and technology. Because when the market starts to shift, you want to be able to shift with it. Without it being a massive PITA to do so.

    Reply ↓
    1. Grumpy Elder Millennial*

      Would be cool for the LW and team to get access to any industry publications or whatever and spend some time reading. Even discussing the reading. And now it’s starting to sound a lot like school…

      Maybe some folks on the team would like to develop their presentation skills. They could do this by spending some time looking at current trends and predictions and presenting it to the team. And you could all build on it if you need to present to anyone else in the company about that stuff.

      Reply ↓
  6. umami*

    It sounds like you have a perfect opportunity to strategically think about what your team does and why. Are there opportunities to be proactive about creating designs, rather than waiting for someone to submit a request? Are there efficiencies to processes that can be brainstormed and implemented? Are there clear instructions on how to request services, and are all stakeholders trained/refreshed on that regularly? Are there services you could be providing that aren’t currently being requested? One thought is to do a survey of your stakeholders to see how they feel about the service you provide and the intake process, and whether there is anything else they would like to see. That could be a good springboard for conversations about your team on what work is being produced and what projects just aren’t being thought about but could also be done.

    Reply ↓
  7. Hiring Mgr*

    This probably isn’t relevant to the question, but I’m just curious if it’s typical for graphic designers to be non-exempt?

    Reply ↓
    1. animaniactoo*

      Yes and no. Technically we fall in the category of professions who qualify as exempt. But some companies are either not aware of that or want to track hours more closely* so they keep the status as non-exempt.

      *Yes, I know this is not necessary for tracking hours, but many default to it anyway.

      Reply ↓
      1. Six for the truth over solace in lies*

        Also, at least in some states, there’s a salary minimum. IIRC in California the professional exemption requires you to make at least twice the amount of full-time minimum wage in addition to other qualifications.

        Reply ↓
  8. LCS*

    It sounds like a big enough org that it would be appropriate to have some bigger picture design items generally available, beyond just supporting individual projects as they come in. For example do you have a suite of Word and PPT templates built for anyone to use, aligned with company branding and design standards? For that matter do you have a design standards book that defines appropriate fonts, sizing ratios, colour palettes etc. for anything to be shared externally on behalf of the company or using the company logo, vision statement, mission, etc? This would be a good place to focus some strategic energy if it’s not already in place.

    Reply ↓
    1. cat herder*

      +1
      As an admin assistant who lives and breathes company branded templates, I second this! They make workflow so much smoother, and add much-needed consistency for any external-facing materials we send to clients/vendors/etc. The more knowledge you can add to a company resource library, the better.

      Reply ↓
      3. Anon Just for This*

        Public servant here, and yes, templates are life. This applies to documents we create regularly, like decision notes, and making sure that all our PPTs have the same visual identity. And tracking approvals for things, especially when like 87 people need to sign off. (Yes, this is a wild exaggeration).

        Reply ↓
    2. SharkeyPA*

      Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking. I work in learning and development, and we use Word/PPT templates, the style guide, and the brand guide all the time.

      Maybe some of your work already comes from the L&D team, but if not . . . creating graphics for their projects may also be helpful.

      Reply ↓
  9. Busy Middle Manager*

    In my experience, planning/strategy type stuff quickly fries your brain. There is also the catch 22 where it feels like you’re doing extra fluff work/not doing real work, so you feel the need to gravitate back to low level paper pushing. That’s at least what I felt. Sort of like how people think they’re going to do all of these fabulous things when they’re unemployed, but they end up staying home and not able to concentrate on things

    So IME it made sense to grab some individual contributor stuff, which has the huge plus of keeping your technical skills intact and up to speed with whatever computer programs you use. This was a huge issue in the business analyst type roles I worked/managed. Knowing all the specific tricks in every computer program always added a layer of credibility to anything else you said

    Also break down “strategy” into concrete buckets like “new software we could use” or “ways to get more revenue from so and so client” or “how to retain unhappy client,” so you remain focused and can pull others in as needed

    Reply ↓
  10. Anonymouse*

    As a fellow graphic designer with experience working in in-house teams, here’s some extra thoughts based on a mix of different places I’ve worked.

    – Building up a brand strategy/planning with templates, social media campaigns, brand guidelines
    – Strategic planning with departments you work a lot with, including developing communication plans and planning out larger projects
    – Helping your entry-level employees access resources and training. Could be getting them experience connecting to professional organizations, networking opportunities, webinars, and industry trends

    Reply ↓
  11. Alton Brown's Evil Twin*

    Now is a great time for contingency planning.

    What will you do if:
    * one of your reports leaves?
    * the company decides to throw work your way in a language or cultural context you & your team aren’t familiar with?
    * branding changes radically? Which past projects do you think should be redone, which can be left alone?
    * you no longer have licenses to your normal resources (a renewal screwup, a cost-cutting measure, external factors) like stock images, design tools, ADA-compliance checkers, etc?

    Reply ↓
    1. Scandinavian Vacationer*

      A few other ideas:
      *research new equipment/software to request for next budget cycle
      *plan a photo shoot using your products/buildings for location so you own these photos, and they are custom to your business needs.
      *review your main website (should be annual task). Are the senior leader photos 5+ or 10+ yrs old? Are the listings (services, contacts, hours) updated?

      Reply ↓
  12. Artemesia*

    In this situation I would take on the occasional project myself to make sure your tool kit is polished and up to date. And otherwise enjoy being on top of things.

    Reply ↓
  13. Qwerty*

    I feel like leadership roles should have 20% of the time free so there’s room to absorb all of the unplanned items (covering for sick employees, training employees, etc). Managing 3 people generally doesn’t take the work of a full time and usually when I have a team that small about 20-50% of my week is spent being an IC alongside them.

    How full are your team’s workloads? Is there enough work for all of them? It sounds like you did a wave of training when people started into entry level roles, so what about pairing with them on projects to help improve their skills? It’ll help turn those those entry level skills into mid level designers.

    Reply ↓
  14. Sloanicota*

    To be completely honest, if you make a lot more than your employees do, I wouldn’t feel great about giving them 100% of the work while you have literally nothing to do, considering you’re being paid so much more per hour than they do. How would you feel about taking on some of the workload and freeing them up for career development/reflection? If there’s truly not work for four people, I’d probably think about not replacing my next employee to go. Managers need *some* degree more flexibility than the average front-line individual contributor, but not this much, IMO.

    Reply ↓
    1. Not a Real Giraffe*

      I agree about the workload distribution. Can you take 10% off each person’s plate and do those things on your own, and free up their time to pursue professional/career development opportunities or work on stretch projects that require more time and creativity? When I was an individual contributor, I definitely had one or two “dream” projects I would have loved to have delved into, but no time to really focus on getting my arm around it since I had real/actual deadlines in front of me. If one or two of those projects had been shifted to someone else, I could have really grown in my role or learned new tricks faster.

      Reply ↓
  15. Baby Yoda*

    I would definitely seek out more projects— I’ve seen this type of position eliminated once the department runs smoothly on its own.

    Reply ↓
  16. Sparkles McFadden*

    I’m probably repeating what others have said but:
    – Contingency plans
    – Strategic planning (Are there ways to expand the department?)
    – Look into new software and different methods
    – Professional development for you and your direct reports.
    – Talk to your direct reports about plans for their future. Are there classes they’d like to take? Skills they want to polish? Trade shows or events they want to attend? An area of the business they’d like to explore?
    – Do the staff members feel they have enough time for everything or do they feel they’re getting everything done by pushing themselves too hard? It doesn’t sound that way but ask anyway.
    – Do you work in the kind of place that has ad hoc committees or long term planning committees?

    You can also just enjoy the lull for awhile. There’s nothing wrong with that! Schedule some vacation and wait for inspiration to strike.

    Reply ↓
  17. Cafe au Lait*

    A couple of my thoughts:

    * Find professional development opportunities for your staff to attend.
    * Ask your team what their least favorite project is and try to take over 20% of those tasks. (Maybe Joe Jonas is constantly sending things back for tweaks)
    * Ask your staff where their weakest points are and set up additional training to build familiarity.
    * Identify the weakest area in your staff’s skillset and try to build those skills yourself.

    Reply ↓
  18. EmF*

    One thing I did when I was supervising a team that was pretty self-sufficient was reach out to other departments that we worked with and set up quarterly Q&A sessions. I and one of my team (rotating, to get my team visible to other people) would turn up and they could ask us about our process, any pain points, anything we did that was confusing, etc., and I always came away with something I could do that would improve their lives. Even if it was a fairly boring meeting (it never was) it was good to put faces to names, chat a little and be human together – it meant they felt more comfortable asking my team for help and vice versa.

    Reply ↓
  19. Ellis Bell*

    A note from the alternative dimension: I just had the most chaotic, dispiriting, and frustrating day as a direct result of a manager’s organisation skills. She’s overworked, overwhelmed, disorganised and she wasn’t available for me to ask for a Plan B decision when the very untenable plan she concocted fell apart. The thing is, I knew from experience that it was going to happen because the exact same issues happen every year (She’s not my regular manager but I work under her for a couple of very dysfunctional weeks every year on a particular project). Even double checking with her and trying to build in safeguards and back up plans doesn’t work, because she’s drowning and she doesn’t engage with you. You can see her eyes moving on even while she’s still answering your question. I imagine your reports feel very secure and like you’ve got everything in the bag. Not to be underestimated.

    Reply ↓
  21. CubeFarmer*

    One of my colleagues is whom I would refer to as a “super delegator” meaning that he’s happy to let someone else do the work. He’s supportive and a cheerleader for his staff, but he is clueless as to how they accomplish their work. This showed when he lost his number one performer. He had zero idea how to train a replacement and that resulted in three quick turnovers in about 2.5 years. This was partially because he didn’t hire the right skills (because he didn’t have a clue,) and because he couldn’t train them (again with the clues.)

    I’m not saying that this is the case with you, OP, but if it IS, then there’s an area where you can dig in.

    Reply ↓
  22. HonorBox*

    OP, I think you’re in a really good spot, honestly. You have some time on your hands to be strategic, helpful to the company, and a great manager. A lot of managers don’t have the opportunity to do one of the three, let alone all of them.

    Here are some things to consider:

    As others suggested – templates.
    What technology and software would make your team’s jobs easier and better?
    What could your team do with a half a day each week or every couple of weeks? You could give them educational time, and stay current with your skills as you take a project from each of them.

    Reply ↓
  23. March madness has begun and so has my OOO*

    This is an envious position to be in. Ride this until retirement! If you are bored pick up a project but it sounds like you are a very competent engaged manager. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

    Reply ↓
  24. Insert Pun Here*

    So I am a non-design person who works with/alongside a team of designers. Here are some ideas for bigger picture projects that our team has done:

    * In my experience, design work is VERY poorly understood. Can you do a series of lunch and learns or “Shadow a Designer For An Hour” so that colleagues can better understand how you work?
    * Are there repeated designs or design elements that can be templated? How many variations?
    * Can you develop any sort of calculators or estimators that can be used by non-design staff? Eg, to estimate costs for (1000 copies of whatever) or length of (eg) an annual report of 10,000 words and 25 photos?
    * Any pending legislation that you need to get ahead of? (Accessibility?)

    Reply ↓
    1. namity name name*

      Yes, this. A lunch and learn or even a flyer of “What can the design team do for you?” can be incredibly helpful for the rest of the company and can generate more work for your team.

      You may not be aware that the accounting team needs to revamp their invoices, or that HR wants to implement new onboarding resources, and those teams may not be aware of how much your team can help with those projects.

      Also want to second the previous recommendation for in house style guides and templates. Man do I miss working someplace where we had generic templates for everything. I can design a power point presentation or flyer on my own, but it will take me 10x as long as someone with actual design skills. If there is a template where I can drop my data into it, I love it.

      Reply ↓
      1. Helewise*

        This is a great idea. We don’t have any brand guidelines at the small-ish organization I’m working for. I’ve been kind of piecing them together for just my department, but it would amazing to have things like this actually established by people who know what they’re doing.

        Reply ↓
  25. Palmer*

    One task you could look at is expanding the groups in the company that you are supporting.

    Say you primarily work with teams A, B and C. Learning more about the larger company and teams GHI and RST even teams W and X. Some of them might benefit from your team’s skills.

    It can be very worthwhile to the company if you built a successful team and then increased it’s adoption and use beyond it’s original scope as long as original goals don’t suffer.

    Basically look towards the future and towards increasing scope. What are sustainable actions you can take!

    Reply ↓
  26. Tammy 2*

    I’m a one-person department, so I’m the manager and the people-power for my type of work. Here are some things I would do if I had more capacity:
    -process documentation and improvement
    -more org-wide outreach/networking
    -increased participation in professional organizations
    -skills development (mostly learning/staying on top of tech tools)
    -take more time off to recharge (do your employees feel like they can use their PTO as much as they want/are entitled to?)

    Reply ↓
  27. Stipes*

    Just don’t become one of those managers who creates problems where there were none, merely out of fear of feeling useless!

    Reply ↓
  28. Adipose*

    You might ask your manager something like “We have a couple of lighter weeks coming up… what things have you been thinking about that would benefit from some time for creative exploration or research?” You’re not telling him that you don’t have enough projects, just that you have some time to work on “wish list” things like refreshing the look of X, or doing more of Y to prep for next year.

    Some additional ideas that may be useful in the absence of more specific feedback from your manager:
    * guidelines for use of AI — in what circumstances can those tools be used, which tools are available, etc.
    * what about toning photos of people — how much color correction is okay, what isn’t acceptable, etc.
    *clear process documentation — if you won the lottery and suddenly left, what would others need to know how to do
    *upskilling in motion graphics, for animated gifs, video, etc. (for you and/or your team, even if there’s limited application for those skills today)
    *if your team works primarily on the digital materials, do trainings and projects so they learn the fundamentals of print work, or vice versa. (We had a more difficult transition than expected a while back when a fabulous junior designer was promoted, and their work shifted from being primarily digital to primarily print — this is mostly avoidable with a little practice!)

    Reply ↓
  29. Ciela*

    oh my, will you come be our manager???

    Assigning people enough work, but not too much work? Stepping in when needed? You sound awesome!!!

    We have a very overworked art dept. of one, with a whole host of chronic health conditions. If he wanted to go on disability, he would 100% be approved. 14 months ago we got a new person, with a Masters in Graphic Design, to share some of the burden. I wish I was kidding, but just last week she asked how to open a file in Adobe Illustrator.

    And then if any of us suggest to management that she could use some more training, oversight, something?? we are told that she is smart, and has a Masters, so she should be able to figure it out…

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  30. Agent Diane*

    Congrats on being at the sweet spot where the work coming in to the team isn’t greater than the team can manage. People have already suggested making time for portfolio building, branding guidelines, templates etc.

    The one thing I couldn’t see in your list of what you’re doing – as a manager or as a team – is evaluating the work. In comms, 10% of time should be set aside for evaluation. This has never happened in any of my roles because there was always more work to get out the door. So look at how you can evaluate your team’s contribution to the organisation. Financially, how much does the team save compared to outsourcing? Creatively, are the graphics delivering on the comms objectives? If you have capacity as a team, could you run some A/B testing to confirm which designs generate the most engagement? Is there more the team can do around accessibility (eg explaining to stakeholders why graphs are in orange and blue, not red and green, or why red on black background is unreadable)?

    Those are the kind of management tasks that enable you to make the case for work to continue in house, and for the team’s experience and knowledge to gain value in the eyes of senior stakeholders.

    But don’t make stakeholders love you too much, else you’re get a backlog of work and you’ll be dragged into endless triaging of work requests!

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  31. Agent Diane*

    Evaluation!

    As a comms manager I used to dream of actually having 10% of team time dedicated to evaluating how well our work had, well, worked. There’s also something about being able to say “this quarter, we saved the organisation $$$ compared to outsourcing” which is the kind of data you want to track as you go along.

    And if the team has capacity, a bit of A/B testing to see what designs get stronger engagement can be really useful to tackle the “I want a poster, can you pretty it up?” type of requests.

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  32. Kimmy Schmidt*

    Do you have any authority to grant your team more PTO or dedicated work time to volunteer, participate in community work, write, get ergonometric assessments (or preventative healthcare in general), or participate in professional development? Do you have any capital to argue for these things to higher ups?

    All of this in conversation with what they would like to see.

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  33. Overthinking It*

    You may have overstaffed, by hiring 3, but that’s ok, because sooner or later one at least will move on – maybe take a new opportunity with some experience under their belt, maybe has/acquires a partner who gets a great offer elsewhere, maybe has a baby and takes a full six months leave. In the meantime, you are available to. over when they take vacation, sick leave, family leave, and that’s a really good thing because stuff does come up – maybe less when they are just out of school, but it will! (if it really turn out you overstaffed, don’t back fill right away when one leaves, and see how you get on with just two for a while, but for now, let it ride.)

    Reply ↓
    1. Part time lab tech*

      I’ve worked in a couple of 4 person teams plus supervisor and I find you really do need that number because with vacation, illness and resignations, the team starts to scramble really quickly. Sometimes that 4th person can be part time entry level position.
      Cross training is really important and also stretch work to keep things interesting.

      Reply ↓

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